8 Ways Life Will Change After Going to Treatment

8 ways life will change after going to treatment
Following treatment, one can begin to experience positive changes in physical, emotional, and psychological health.  Here are eight ways life can change following treatment.


1.    You will experience emotional regulation.  Your emotions will be less exaggerated and you might feel that you have some control over your emotions.  This is an important consideration because when you were engaged in your addictive behavior, emotions were not confronted; you simply avoided emotions altogether.  You will begin to feel again.  This is an important step in your recovery provided the emotions are considered and processed appropriately.


2.    You will experience happiness and joy.  You may see a smile returning to your face and interactions with others that were ignored while you were engaged in the addictive behavior, may bring you happiness.  You might begin to reciprocate a hug from a family member and mean it.  You might find joy in a neglected hobby or decide to pursue other interests that bring you happiness.


3.    You will begin to live an honest life.  You will begin to be an honest person.  Honesty is essential for recovery.  Cherish being an honest person.  If there were lies that you told while engaging in the addiction, then make them right. Living honestly will open many doors and allow you to recover with a clear conscience and provide a sense of peace.


4.    You will begin to develop empathy.  When in the grips of an addiction, many people find it difficult to understand how another feels or have the ability to put oneself in another’s shoes.  You will find that you might be able to express empathy to friends and loved ones.  Empathy will allow you to be a more genuine person through recovery.


5.    You will find that you can manage stress more effectively.  Throughout your addiction, you probably did not manage stress very well.  You went to the bottle or the pipe to alleviate stress and now without those things, you will be more inclined to call a friend or go to a meeting when feeling stressed or overwhelmed.


6.    You may develop a spiritual awakening.  Most addicts believe that their drug of choice is their higher power.  Post treatment, you may begin to develop spirituality in terms of a relationship with your higher power.  You may start attending religious services to foster this relationship with a higher power.  You may seek guidance through prayer or meditation. Spirituality does not imply religion or religious pursuits.  Spirituality involves concern over
yourself and others through mindfulness of your own existence and less to things that might have less significance.


7.    You will begin to see possibilities and not so much of what you cannot do.  Following treatment, you may feel that life is overwhelming.  You have accumulated debt, your relationships are tarnished, and you need to find a job.  You will see the possibilities and begin to understand that it all will take time and patience on your part.  Over time, you will see that problems become manageable and you can visualize a solution.  As long as you are not drinking or using drugs, you will find the possibility in any situation.  Remember that recovery is a process and managing life one day at a time is specifically what you need to focus on.
8.    Following recovery, relationships will begin to improve.  Maybe not right away but over time your friends and family members will begin to see positive changes in you.  They will begin to trust you (this takes time) and they will begin to enjoy your company again.  You may find that there are some who will support your recovery and want to share in your accomplishments and with increased abstinence, you may find that your relationships are quite possibly better than they were before your addiction began.

Recovery holds promises you cannot know until you begin. Begin your recovery today by calling Cottonwood Tucson for information on our residential treatment programs and full continuum of critically acclaimed co-occurring disorder care.

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